Those of you who want to watch NRA’s press conference can watch online via either the NRA or NRA News Facebook pages, on NRA.org, or on NRANews.com.
If you can’t tune in because you’re at work, then I’ll live blog the press conference here. (Sadly, this does mean I’m missing the gun control debate between PA Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and Sen. Daylin Leach, a showdown that would no doubt call for popcorn and a drinking game.)
We’re having a few buffering hiccups already in these last five minutes before the scheduled start time. Hopefully NRA has the capacity to stream something like this to such a major audience.
Damn it! The press conference has been bumped until 11am. I could have listened to the Leach-Metcalfe debate. Of course, then I probably would have been drunk for the NRA press conference.
The press conference room is packed based on the NRA News feed. Lots of reporters are taking pictures of how packed the room is. That’s interesting if it’s news even to them.
We just had a two minute warning from Andrew.
NRA President David Keene comes first. He’s a great spokesman.
He jumps right into the discussion that parents are concerned about how to stop shootings. He’s going to turn it over to Wayne LaPierre. He said they aren’t taking questions, but will next week via normal outlets.
Wayne starts out talking about the concern for victims. He notes that NRA didn’t comment because of respect for families. He says they must speak, and that as much as the anger is directed at NRA, no one has talked about protecting children right now in a way that “we know works.”
He notes that we have gun free school zones, put out releases about them, and post signs about them in a way that shows criminals can face no consequences. He’s highlighting that we pay to put armed guards for power plants, sports stadiums, and politicians, yet we, as a society, have decided to leave them defenseless.
We have a Code Pink infiltrator getting in the way of Wayne. The Code Pink protestor is getting more attention since he’s being allowed to scream. The security didn’t remove the guy early enough.
Wayne is highlighting that federal prosecutions of gun crimes are down by 40%.
Wayne now says the media is trying to hide a dirty secret that there are violent video games. He highlights a game called Kindergarten Killers that’s been online for 10 years.
Now he’s talking hurricanes and natural disasters. He then cites music videos that show violence – but who is airing music videos these days? He says that this stuff is the worst form of pornography.
He says that these issues bring cruelty into homes. He says that kids witness 16,000 murders in media by the time they reach 18. He says that the media is to blame.
Another Code Pink protester with credentials. She started screaming from the beginning. Now the media is interrupting Wayne on the protests. And he then starts attacking the media again. This is clearly a speech meant for NRA members & gun owners who support the policies of NRA members.
He’s also going after misreporting on the power of ammunition and firearms.
He does say that the police were prompt. Ummm…20 minutes?
Wayne says that parents need to be personally involved in schools. They need to be invested in school security. He says that only good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns. But he points out that people who want to call 911, the good guy with the gun could be closer.
He points out that society views guns good in the hands of law enforcement, so they should just acknowledge that it’s guns in the hands of good guys that make the difference.
He goes back to a statement after Virginia Tech where he called for armed security in schools. He notes that if Adam Lanza could have been challenged by a qualified armed security person that maybe he could have saved lives. He notes that teachers and the principal had to sacrifice their lives in order to try and save kids, and that leaving them unarmed forces the sacrifice onto them.
He goes after Obama for scrapping school security grants in the budget. He asks if foreign aid could pay for a police officer in every school. He notes that there are plenty of people who make a corps of security plan options – retired police, military, emergency personnel, etc.
He acknowledges that local budgets are strained, but their dedication is there. He calls on Congress to pay for armed police officers in every single school in the country. He suggests they do it right now so kids return to armed security after the holiday break.
He says that schools should be planning meeting with parents to talk about these security ideas. He notes that every school is different, so the plans might look different.
NRA, as the top instructor, is highlighting their law enforcement training programs and offering them to communities. He notes that NRA did use these training programs to help in WWII. He says they are developing a new model call National School Shield. It’s going to focus on many facets – access to schools and teacher training.
They have tapped former Rep. Asa Hutchinson to lead the National School Shield. NRA will pay for it. Schools get it free of charge. No money required by schools or communities to get the materials to get them talking about how to secure their school.
Wayne notes that we should be securing our schools at least as much as sports stadiums.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been in the room where NRA is hosting this event, it can hold well over 1,000 people.
Rep. Hutchinson is speaking now, but the press is trying to yell at Wayne over them.
He notes that parents aren’t confident in school safety anymore, and that he’s bringing together security experts to put together serious recommendations that doesn’t just focus on armed security.
He says the focus is to come up with a model security plan that schools can pick and choose to fit everything for urban schools to small, rural schools.
He notes that the plan won’t be focused completely on armed guards. Hutchinson notes that there are already basic models in the public and private sphere – Pres. Clinton backed a police in schools program and his own son participates in a group of dads that actually provides extra security to playgrounds and schools in the community.
David Keene is back. He says that Andrew will be around next week to answer press questions. He also says he will be available to press next week. Reporters tried yelling over him. The text of speeches will be posted today.
Sebastian will work on a post later with a full analysis and reflection on today’s press conference.
Look at the size of that security guard on the right of the screen.
Im back. Might wanna check out my latest blog post.
Ok PagunBlog our readers are experts on guns and gun crime, I would like YOU to answer and ASK your readers a question. I preface this question by pointing out that I asked the same question of my Facebook friends, many who are 100% pro guns. They all answered honestly with no roundabout arguments or avoiding it.
Here’s the question:
Why do we not see crimes commonly committed with Machine Guns? By that I mean specifically “Gangster” style where the *gun continues to fire as long as the trigger is held down* To further clarify Im talking about FULLY AUTO like the type that was used in the shootout with North Hollywood Police and Swat in 1997. (One of the guns was a modified AR-15 into a Full Auto)
Looking forward to a new discussion
TYPO:I meant “YOUR” readers are experts
When I clicked to go to your site I got virus warnings and it tried to install software on my computer.
Nice try.
“How have our nations priorities become so f….ar away…”
Not the f-word I would have used, but a great statement anyway.
Way to go dude with a sign, way to look crazy.
The stream won’t play on my iphone, dammit!
Goddamit. Now I need to resign my NRA membership. The 1st amendment important too.
no first amendment issues here…
True, but this is a political thrust at a totally impregnable position (as far as well can tell; remember Tipper Gore?); I seriously doubt he’s calling for laws or actions there, he’s just pointing out someone else to blame. Perhaps with some justice.
As of when I type this reply, it looks like I’ll become a member again 5 years in advance of plan….
Holy crap! Multimedia. Way to strike back. I think he is making a good case. 11:11AM
–Matt
Don’t know why this didn’t occur to me earlier, but is there a more dead time to do a press “conference” (no questions allowed, so it really doesn’t merit that name) on the Friday before Christmas, except for doing it later in the day after the deadline for nighttime news?
I wonder what was with that thinking.
Anyway, at the time I type this I’m glad is sounds like they’re not waving the white flag, which would be particularly maladroit after Obama punted to a commission.
I don’t think they even want to hold a presser, but they need to. Time is what they are buying.
Another Code Pink twit? Did they not screen these people before letting them in?
I wiki’d them and you can see a bunch of them holding a banner saying “Those who sacrifice Liberty for security deserve neither” so are they on our side and just crazy? Or another AHSA type thingy?
Professional journalists (“Democrat operatives with bylines”) give their credentials to Code Pink traitors all the time.
(Yes, “traitors”. Code Pink provided money and supplies to “insurgents” in Fallujah who were fighting US forces.)
Another sign, 13 minutes in. Looks like the open discussion only happens when the president is talking.
–Matt
This is rambling. Attacking ‘the media’ makes your base smile and nod, but is this convincing to someone on the fence?
Exactly, I’m not sure this is the best way to get the message across to others on the fence
I agree. It may have needed to be said, but at the same time it distracted from the real point: our children are important, here are these things that don’t work, here’s the only thing that does, period
Save the media/videogames stuff for another day
As the loudest calls for blood have been coming from the “entertainers”, this is a reminder to them that they, too, could end up on the block.
I’m not thrilled with it, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad tactic.
“About 20 minutes” is from one unconfirmed report; I don’t believe the “instantaneous” claim either, right now we just don’t know.
Guys this press conference isn’t for anyone on the fence, or anyone opposed to us. The only access those folks will even have to this message is the sound bites the media chooses to put out there, and those weren’t going to be favorable no matter how perfect the speech was. This press conference is 100% about mobilizing the base. They’re just letting us all know they’re not about to sell us out, so keep the memberships and donations coming. That’s all this is.
good point.
And spewing the same rhetoric about violent video games that the anti-gunners spew about us isn’t the way to do that. I’m the base and I’m pissed.
Unfortunately, they didn’t say anything that sounded like “we’re not going to sell you out.” It was just rambling rhetoric, blame shifting, and “we’re forming a committee.”
This is not encouraging to a member base that has already been unsettled by their blackout and nearly a week of silence.
No, I watched it lived on CNN.
motomed,
“Guys this press conference isn’t for anyone on the fence, or anyone opposed to us. The only access those folks will even have to this message is the sound bites the media chooses to put out there”
You don’t have a Twitter account, do you?
Ugh, Wish I didn’t. The stupidity, it burns.
He’s carried on too long on the other distraction items. He should’ve stuck to the protection of children and the correction of misuse of certain terms and words by the media. That’s it.
The length is too long too. Should have been as short and concise as possible to get the NRA’s stand across.
Has anyone actually said anything about the NRA fighting any AWB proposed in Congress? Or fighting any further restrictions on our Rights?
I find what I haven’t heard yet concerning.
That’s why I don’t think this was about mobilizing the base. They are trying to take the conversation in a different direction. The School Shield program is a good way to show the top priority should be the protection of our children and take the discussion away from AWB bans etc…
If this was about mobilizing the base, he would have addressed those items in more detail, but he didn’t.
Unless he raises a white flag (sounds like he didn’t, at all), it can and will be assumed they’re fight AWBs in the Congress. Clinton’s was, after all, the first major piece of gun grabbing legislation that didn’t pass with the NRA’s OK, and we all know the NRA is evil incarnate….
honestly I think not even dignifying those things with a public response is the best action to take right now. The president himself kicked the can down the road, no need to give them sound bites to get their side fired back up. it’s been less than a week and the fire is already calming down, just let it burn out….
He didn’t directly mention the AWB but did say this:
“Worse, they perpetuate the dangerous notion that one more gun ban
— or one more law imposed on peaceful, lawful people — will protect
us where 20,000 others have failed!”
on the whole I’m pretty happy with that. Little bit of defense, then went on the offensive, offered a plan that is going to be hard to argue with. How does anyone honestly say they’re opposed to coming up with school safety plans that can be utilized by schools as they see fit?
Exactly, the challenge is getting the message out to a broader audience. Getting support for the program from active members of congress from both parties. If that happens, the message won’t fall flat like it did after V-Tech
I suspect this is a setup for some kind of compromise….repeal the Gun Free School Zones Act and implement school security in exchange for….something else? Acceptance of some kind of restriction?
That’s my worry. What kind of restrictions are they going to allow as a “compromise”, and in exchange for what? They’ve left the field wide open.
I thought it was good. Did any of you think he was gonna hoist a Colt 6920 over his head and scream ” from my cold dead hands”? The recitation of all of the facts that prove AWBs don’t work would have also been counter productive. People dont want to hear that shit right now. The real fight to stop new legislation is behind closed doors. Just look how quickly that ahole Manchin(sp) “clarified” his statements. He presented real alternatives that could help protect kids NOW. As for the violent media stuff. I am also opposed to banning anything but I think we need to acknowledge that they might be having some effect in desensitizing people to violence. While for most of us it will have no effect on our behavior it could be a factor for someone who has other underlying issues.
All in all, I think this presser is the hardest they could push back right now. Keep writing and calling politicians, make them tremble. I dont care what you think of the NRA, I am nto always a fan but they are the ONLY organization that has the inside the beltway muscle to stop a federal AWB. Join now! if your already a member give gift memberships instead of donating more money. If they can go congressmen who might be getting soft on their 2A stance in January when these bills come up and say that the NRA signed up a million new members in the last month we might have a pretty good chance of stopping this nonsense.
Just to clarify on the media stuff. I don’t think we should restrict any speech. However, after seeing all the hollwood morons tweeting hate on gun owners since this crime it would be nice to put alot of heat on these self righteous assholes who make millions from an industry that glorifies violence.
Thanks for watching for us! Couple of Initial Thoughts. Most Big Cities have some sort of Armed Person in their High Schools, so the NRA says take it down to the Middle/Grade School Level. That’s good, but we’ve had some News stories up here in the Cleveland area where “loose guns” were found near schools. Seems the “Inner City Youth” tended to stash them before they entered the school, then retrieved them on the way home. Okay, but what about School Buses? How about the Public Places during the Summer like Swimming Pools/Parks/Baseball Fields? Most of them are “Gun Free Zones” also. How about Day Cares and Head Start Centers? Will they be encouraged to have Armed Security? Also, won’t there have to be some changes in the various State Laws that say “No Guns Allowed in Schools” so that Security can be Armed? You know that certain States would have a Hissy if they have to crack open that door.
Also, remember that there were Armed Campus Police at Va. Tech, yet that didn’t seem to work out so well.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m just asking questions. But at least the NRA is coming up with some kind of Pro-Safty Program, unlike the Antis with their prospective AWB.
That’s about the only real positive Les, at least they are trying something other than an AWB. But as you said, armed guards didn’t work so well at V-Tech. Not only that, but we really don’t need the Feds taking this by the horns and creating a TSA-esque SSA (School Security Administration).
As far as the presser in general, a total cluster with plenty of fodder for the media to hang Wayne by.
V tech is a large campus, Having campus Police is the same as any large area .
They just can’t be where you need them.
Response time is always a factor.
Virginia Tech is a campus covering acres with multiple buildings. It might as well be a small town so of course having police on patrol had no more effect than having a cop on patrol in a town but blocks away stops crime. Most K-12 schools in the country are much smaller, a single building, and present a different problem to secure. An armed guard or teacher is yards away, not blocks.
Anyway he specifically said the plans NRA would help develop would vary based on the local conditions.
Not saying I love this speech, but the main thrust, which tracks with recent polling, is that the most effective way to stop a massacre is to have someone on hand who is armed. That has positive numbers in polls far higher than restricting guns and magazines. The anti’s can poo-poo the idea but it resonates with the majority and needs to be kept in the forefront of the discussion.
I think the “below the radar” intent here is to get Ma and Pa Kettle to start asking themselves if, since they agree that it is the presence of an armed person that will work, and, they are comfortable with police with guns in schools, then, what -other- people might they trust with guns in schools.
That’s where in some places in the country, the idea of not paying for cops or security guards, but just trusting teachers who already choose to carry to do so in the school, can get laws changed. Which we are seeing.
I just read in the news that Columbine had two armed guards too. They engaged one of the gunmen but they were outgunned.
Therein the argument for allowing teachers and staff to carry under state law if they choose.
Not to begrudge their sense of duty but a minimum-bid security guard working a shift is by definition not going to be motivated to put their life on the line and go down hard when push comes to shove.
We’ve seen time and time again though that teachers and staff will charge unarmed into gunfire to try to rescue “their kids.”
The ones who would choose to carry? They’d make the 300 look like sissys before they gave up. We’d see active shooters carried out in buckets.
I know they had one, he fired shots at the killers at the beginning of incident, BUT failed to pursue as the killers retreated into the building.
He was a Sheriff’s Deputy, and the #1 lesson learned from Columbine was the up to then in the eyes of the police Black Swan concept of active shooters. The SOP was to secure the perimeter and negotiate with the hostage takers … who were of course long dead by their own hands.
While a lot of units haven’t got the memo (like the one in that horrible family killing in Connecticut), since then we’ve developed active shooter doctrines, which rather obviously include “marching towards the sound of the canons”. And since most of the incidents end with the shooter killing himself or sometimes surrendering (Aurora) at the first sign of approaching counter-force, we don’t even need to obsess over gun-fighting scenarios.
Columbine was somewhat different, e.g. the only incident with two participants.
The 20 minutes is from a CNN timeline. Given that the local PD is 1.8 miles away (5 minutes at the speed limit) and there is a State Police barracks 6 miles away (8 minutes at the speed limit) I tend to suspect that once more the MSM is just making stuff up.
Honestly, cops tend to not congregate around or in their police station, at least in non-urban areas. Pretty much everyone on duty is usually out patrolling, instead. Even with local PD and SP stations that close, 20 minutes isn’t terribly surprising.
Area like that, that time of day? Likely no more than one sworn officer per site, and THEY are anchored to the phone and radio, to be able to coordinate if necessary.
Patrol officers would have been dispersed to the four winds.
I’m disappointed that they espoused the drivel about violence in video games, I understand we’re a 2A organization but are we really advocating for mass censorship because of a madman… millions of people play these games and don’t go shoot up a school or do anything other than get fat on the couch. It’s no more plausible than the tired blood in the streets argument from the zealots on the other side of our issue. He should have focused on mental health failures, security, gun free zones and that further laws won’t do anything.
They didn’t say the games should be banned.
I think if a person is not stable a violent game could affect them.
The point was The NRA was attempting to steer the conversation away from guns, and pointing out the bigger picture.
While I recognize how it fit in with their strategy it will contribute to the notion that they are behind the times. Violence in games and movies is pretty old hat, it’s doubtless short-lived revival in the current frenzy aside, and I think they risk alienation of those who agree with them but are also dedicated gamers like me.
While they didn’t specifically call of legislation, the implication is nevertheless that something should be done about this ‘problem’ and they’d be wrong IMO.
Guys, this battle will be won or lost in the House of Representatives. Those of us in the red states, get off your ass, email and call your congressman let them now we will primary their ass if they sell us out. Those of you in louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Montana, and South Dakota, I believe you all have democrat senators up for reelection in 2014. Let them hear from you as well.
Wayne LaPierre said today what I said last Friday – the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun.
yeah thats why we have Police and Swat. Professionals. Ill take them over the arm chair, weekend warrior, vigilantes that think they’re Clint Eastwood any day of the week
You don’t have to be a cop with umpteen year’s worth of experience to stop an armed bad guy, or even two or more armed bad guys, who are trying to turn either you, or another innocent person, into a crime victim. You just have to be armed yourself, brave enough to stand up for what is right, and capable of making your defensive reactions count. Doing all the right things in such a self-defense scenario is key, and this is not really so hard to do for most people.
Somebody whom I know with a Pennsylvania LTCF permit did all the right things about four years ago when a 17-year-old thug pulled a gun on him outside a Walmart. The thug started shooting at him not long after he failed to hand over his cash. (He had no cash on him at the time – just his debit card.) The LTCF permit returned fire, shot the thug’s feet, but the thug’s shots all missed. The gunfight ended with the thug going to the hospital in police handcuffs, and the LTCF holder’s shooting being ruled justifiable.
Instead of focusing on the instrument of evil, we should focus on evil itself. How we do that is a complex but important topic worthy of another article. For now, here is a list (incomplete for lack of time) of mass shootings that took place in countries with tighter, in some cases much tighter gun laws than any state in America:
1994, Aarhus University, Denmark. A student goes on a shooting spree in a cafeteria. He manages to shoot four people, two fatally, with an illegal shotgun.
1994, Stureplan Plaza, Stockholm, Sweden. A man is denied entrance to a bar, goes home, retrieves an illegal assault rifle, comes back and guns down 24 people. Four die, many others are seriously wounded.
1994, Falun, Sweden. A military officer uses his service weapon, an AK-5 assault rifle, to shoot eight people in downtown Falun. Seven of the victims die.
1996, Dunblane, Scotland. A former scout leader shoots 17 people to death in a school, 16 of whom are children. This massacre happened after Britain had tightened its gun laws in response to the 1987 Hungerford massacre.
2002, Erfurt, Germany. An expelled student returns to his former school and starts killing teachers. He leaves 16 people dead, including a police officer who responded to the scene.
2006, Ermsdetten, Germany. A former student comes back to his high school, shoots five people to death and leaves a sixth victim wounded.
2009, Winnenden, Germany. A 17-year-old high school student goes on a shooting spree at his school, killing 15 people.
2009, Espoo, Finland. A man shoots four people to death in a shopping mall, using an illegally acquired handgun.
2010, Cumbria, England. Strict British gun laws passed after the Dunblane massacre, making it illegal for civilians to own handguns, do not stop a man from going on a shooting spree in Cumbria. After several hours, his final tally is 12 dead and 11 wounded.
2011, Liege, Belgium. A gunman, breaking Belgium’s tight gun laws, kills three and leaves dozens other wounded in a town square during Christmas shopping.
2011, Oslo, Norway. A man kills 77 people, most of them at a youth camp, using an illegally acquired firearm.
2012, Berlin, Germany. A man whose girlfriend has received an apartment eviction notice kills four people before taking his own life.
2012, Toronto, Canada. Tight Canadian gun laws did not prevent a shooter from killing one and wounding seven at the Eaton shopping mall.
2012, Toronto, Canada. A gunman leaves two dead and 23 wounded at a party in a private home in Toronto.
If someone cannot get hold of a gun and still wants to commit atrocious acts of violence, they can do what a student in Ansbach, Germany did: use Molotov cocktails and an ax. Or use a knife, as in the Osaka school massacre in Japan, which claimed eight children’s lives and left 15 other people wounded.
Knives have also been used in mass violence attacks at schools in China (the latest claiming 22 victims).
The perpetrator of the largest one-man mass murder in American history did not fire a single bullet. He used farm fertilizers to create a bomb with which he killed 168 people. Among his victims were about as many children as died in the Connecticut massacre.
The worst mass murder in U.S. history was perpetrated by a group of conspirators who used box cutters and airplanes to take three thousand lives.
Cars do not drive drunk. Knives to not stab. And guns do not kill. People do. When we realize this; when our focus is on evil itself and not on its instruments; then – but only then – can we begin the long journey toward ridding our society of senseless violence.
I can only hope ….. my fellow “shall not be Infringed” friends are also calling and emailing their Senators and Congress criters, both state and fed.
If not…………”…being necessary to the security of a free State,..” is about to take a severe hit. When Amendment II is made toothless, you can kiss what little remains of Amendment IV and V goodbye. Then watch as Amendment I fades into obscurity.
MY advice…. for every firearm related purchase, you also mak e two calls or, send two emails too your congress and senate reps, both State and Federal.
ps… If the teeth are pulled from the 2nd A, all that remains is another hunter’s permission slip
In 1994, an American-born immigrant in Israel named Baruch Goldstein used a select-fire Galil rifle to single-highhandedly murder 29 unarmed Palestinian Muslims and wound 125 others as they all were worshiping in a mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs site in Hebron in the West Bank. This became known as the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. The shooting ended when one of the worshipers in the mosque threw a fire extinguisher at Baruch Goldstein’s head and he was knocked down. Other worshipers then beat Baruch Goldstein to death. Although this massacre and Baruch Goldstein’s actions were immediately condemned by the Israeli government and most of the Israeli people, none of Isreal’s gun laws were ever changed in the years since then.
He made an incredibly important point: Parents should decide whether parents are allowed to carry weapons to protect the school. Federal laws making no gun zones should be repealed.
The nonsense about violent video games and hating rap music was rambly and poorly packaged. That out-of-touch everybody-I-talk-to-agrees-with-me attitude is why the Republicans got beaten so hard in November – a complete lack of awareness that the majority of America disagrees, and thinks you old-fashioned. Like Rick Santorum needing to spout off about outlawing pornography, ranting about rap music and video games is bad PR. He should have focused on the areas where he has real solid support.
For a sample of how toxic (and ironically, violent) the opposition is, look at the comments on this blog I stumbled across in a Google search…. http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/12/21/nra-hacks-holding-press-conference/
Like it or not, apparently no one blames the shooter (or his mother who let a psychotic child she feared for years and was trying to get committed go to the range and access her weapons). No, it is the NRA’s fault those children are dead… *sigh* Anyway… that is the tone and perception we are up against.